Ad Hoc reviews can account for anywhere from 5%-12% of total capture costs and from 10%-22% of total proposal costs, and can slow the whole process. This paper addresses what happens when additional ad hoc reviews are over-used.
The Shipley Approach
The Shipley Approach includes a standard set of reviews where leadership makes key decisions affecting further investment in opportunities being pursued or being considered for pursuit. Shipley has a long and enviable record of success and we highly recommend you consider using it - if you're not already!
There are many good reasons to call for an ad hoc review of an important capture. For one, it may be “off the tracks”. Common reasons for ad hoc reviews include:
- revisiting items left unresolved in the last review,
- re-setting strategy,
- consolidating the capture team around emerging (e.g. broader) themes and objectives, or
- educating and developing staff.
However, its important to time the ad hoc review with respect to existing planned reviews and the schedules of key leadership and capture team members. If an upcoming review is planned, the leadership can often make their points through the planned forum already in place. The problem is that Ad Hoc reviews can often become “the easy button” and, in worst cases, adjust leadership expectations about the importance of planned reviews.
Most implementations of the Shipley process seen in industry today provide for a streamlined approach to smaller captures. Protecting those smaller captures from Ad Hoc reviews is an important way to strengthen your organic growth capabilities. In our experience, the ad hoc review is best suited to larger, more strategic captures.
The Ad Hoc review is often overused in large, multi-tiered organizations where several layers of management are independently seeking ways to reduce bid and execution risk.
For larger, more strategic captures, it is important to allow the capture management team to plan the attack, form the core team, and quickly bring informative briefings forward to leadership for planned reviews. It is equally important for executives to resist an Ad Hoc review particularly using with dozens of auxiliary staff.
First, the existing planned review processes should be considered as to whether they have occurred in sufficient frequency and desired outcome. If reviews are piled one on top of another, you may frustrate your capture team and your best capture managers and technical talent may slow work output or decide to look elsewhere for work. They usually feel frustration because of a time crunch: in addition to planned reviews, they now face additional reviews and may feel they are spending too much time on reporting, and too little time doing what is needed to win.
Then the actual meeting may exacerbate the problem. When the auxiliary staff, through the Ad Hoc review, discover that the necessary steps to win aren’t getting done in a timely manner, they may feel that the Ad Hoc reviews “discovered” the problem. When, in reality, the work was not completed in advance of the Ad Hoc review because the capture team spent the time preparing to report for the Ad Hoc review.
Ad Hoc reviews are an important tool for leadership to confirm and ensure that growth investments are being wisely used. The best Ad Hoc reviews involve an advance personal communication from leadership to the Capture Manager specifying the scope of the discussion, and the reason for the review in advance of the Ad Hoc review. Further, the most effective leadership approach to Ad Hoc meetings involves staffing with only invited auxiliary staff who are most likely to provide input to address the planned scope, and not all who could possibly comment on any aspect of the effort.
Contested Spaces Associates
The consultants at Contested Spaces Associates, LLC (CSAL) organize like a cooperative guild. We know how to win and grow business. We are constantly learning from one another. We are experienced in strategy, capture management, and winning proposals. Shipley trained, we all possess clearances and decades of experience in adapting the capture process to each specific situation. Contact us today –